TimeOut for Street Art

It’s here. The issue that is sure to make Peter Vallone Jr. red in the face, and most likely, a whole bunch of haters in the ‘underground’. TimeOut NY presents its official ‘Street Art’ theme. The fun loving-event listing magazine asked ‘street artists’ to submit sketches and the best of the bunch were selected. CYCLE, LADY PINK & SMITH, HOPE 169, and Ellis G (he has a graffiti name but we won’t blow up his spot) were all chosen to create ‘limited edition’ covers, you know, so you can â€œcollect â€˜em all.â€ We shot off a quick round of questions to CYCLE to find out more about the project. Interview and details of the four pro bono ‘limited edition’ covers after the jump.
All cover photographs by Sarina Finkelstein.

Multicolored-heads design by Cycle at 49th Street and Astoria Boulevard in Astoria, Queens. Did TimeOut contact you? Yes, invitation was sent out to artists to submit, my contact was a guy named Hope 169. I do not know how many other artist they contacted since I was notified like a day before the sketches had to be submitted, I did mine the night before they were due.Is it a good thing for TONY to be doing a street art issue? I think they did one last year as well, I guess it is a yearly thing they due but I could be wrong, maybe check with them. As far as a good thing? Sure why not? It’s not like they are talking negatively about street art, why not some good press? Isn’t street art part of the NYC experience?What do you say to people that say youâ€™re selling out by doing graffiti for TONY? How is promoting yourself by doing your own artwork selling out? Is what I did graffiti? It was a commissioned piece of artwork, and it was legally done on an exterior surface. I did not compromise any of my principals to do this, I was not morally challenged in any way. We could submit whatever design we wanted and they chose what they liked. I got to do my own art without anyone trying to art direct me or telling me how it should be done. They gave me creative freedom to make it happen.Was that a legal wall they paid for or did you just rock that shit somewhere? It was a legal wall but we did not get paid. But hey its a cover shot and thatâ€™s some great self promotion plus it was complete creative freedom so why not!
——————————————————————————————————-Heart design by HOPE 169 on Davis Street (near Jackson Avenue) in Long Island City, Queens. Bike design by Ellis G. on Dean Street (near Smith Street) in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. Miss Liberty design by LADY PINK & SMITH at 5 Pointz in Long Island City, Queens.